Ah, God’s vastness did unfold,
all glowing like a dream,
Heaven manifest through my soul,
in endless, glorious sheen

Oh, sweet God, resident in me,
with love I am made whole.
Open my heart that I might write
the words flowing through my soul.

Spirit of God unleash in me
living words with loving rays,
so those they reach, where’er they be,
may be divinely changed always.

Years ago, when I was a practicing, conservative Christian, we talked about going to heaven, we didn’t talk of Self-realization; the words were non-existent to me. We talked about being saved as if it were a given—a knowing that we were going to heaven.
Yogananda uses the word “salvation” in his writings. As he uses it, it refers to liberation from duality; in other words, Self-realization.
For others, it seemed as though hell, as eternal punishment might be in store. But I have grown away from that thinking. I believe that eternal punishment is non-existent, for we eliminate bad karma and build on good karma, however small or extensive it is, from one lifetime to another, becoming ever closer to God, until finally the soul is liberated—from the cycles of mortal existence—to go to God in eternal love, in the highest heaven, where no evil or eternal damnation exists. Thus there is no eternal punishment.

 DEATH AND DYING

     Recently I received a phone call from a gentleman, who said, “I understand you are the person I am supposed to call!”  He went on to say his mother was very recently diagnosed with cancer and they were taking her to Grand Rapids for aggressive treatments, and would I come to see her for a healing session before they left.

  A few weeks lapsed and again he called me. He wanted me to come to the funeral home where his mother was. He said, “I want to thank you. You were such a big help to my mother.”

  On my way to the funeral home, I tried to go over in my mind what I might have said to her in that short hour, that was of such help.  I simply couldn't remember our conversation.

   Upon arrival at the funeral home, the son told me that I had talked to her about dying, and told her of my experiences of heaven when my heart quit during a heart attack. Thus she was unafraid of the process.  He also said, “No one else talked to her of dying! No one else had prepared her.”

  I wrote of several instances similar to this in my book, Messages from Jesus.  It is always a privilege to be a part such important moments in a persons life and to help ease their passing.

  —Mary Ann Johnston

Taken from Messages from Jesus,  p. 277

I asked Jesus, "What about those who commit suicide?"

Jesus replied, . . . "They reincarnate to work off that karma. All is not lost."

This has been good news for many people, thinking that their loved ones who chose suicide were going to go to hell.
I thought about suicide when I had my heart attack and visited heaven. Momentarily I thought it would take me back to God. I wanted desperately to return to Heaven. What stopped me was remembering Jesus' words that I would simply reincarnate and start over to work off that karma.  I surely did not want to start over.  I simply wanted to go back to God, never to return. It isn't that easy.  Starting over sounds very difficult.
Thus, I am still here doing what I am meant to do. Apparently I wasn't finished with the task, for God did not keep me.
—Mary Ann